football

It was a tough weekend for New Orleans football. The Tulane Green Wave and the New Orleans Saints both lost to Atlanta teams.

The Tulane Green Wave debuted their brand-new Uptown stadium on Saturday. It was the first football game played on their campus in nearly 40 years. But they lost to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 38-21.

On Sunday the Saints headed to the Georgia Dome to play the Falcons. The Saints held the momentum through the first half, and seemed like they were on their way to an easy victory over their division rival.

The rivalry between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons goes back to the beginning, says Gambit sportswriter Bradley Warshauer.

“Most people, if you ask them why they hate the Falcons, they don’t immediately have an answer. There’s no one thing that jumps to mind for them,” but it’s generally agreed that nearly everyone just hates the Falcons, Warshauer says.

For the first time in nearly 40 years, Tulane University is preparing to host a football game on its Uptown campus.

In a media walkthrough on Thursday Tulane representatives showed off the nearly-complete Yulman Stadium. It's a $73 million, 30,000-seat open-air arena that is already sold out for the first game this Saturday against Georgia Tech.

Richard Yulman, Tulane board member and major donor, welcomed the media and public to his namesake stadium.

“It’s been a long journey, but it’s now official: the boys are back Uptown," Yulman said. "Roll Wave.”

The New Orleans Saints wrapped up the preseason with a 22-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

This was only the second time the Saints had ever faced the Ravens in the preseason. On Aug. 26, 2005 the two teams played the last game in the Superdome before Hurricane Katrina.

As expected, most of the Saints’ stars sat — Drew Brees warmed up before the game and dressed out in full pads, but never made it off the sideline. The fourth preseason game is a chance to evaluate players before the final cuts to make the 53-man regular season roster. Coach Sean Payton:

College football season is upon us. The first regular season game for the LSU Tigers is in two weeks. Playoffs debut this year. And the Tigers will have a new starting quarterback. There are major shifts happening off the field for Division I programs too.

New Orleans government and civic leaders were disappointed to learn that the city won't be able to highlight its 300th anniversary in 2018 by hosting the Super Bowl.

NFL owners voted Tuesday to award the big game to Minneapolis.

Mark Romig, president of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, said he was proud of the city's presentation. He said it's hard to compete against a city that is building a new stadium — as Minneapolis is.

The New Orleans Saints will kick off their 2014 season in the Georgia Dome against the Atlanta Falcons.

The schedule, released by the NFL late Wednesday evening, has the Saints competing in five primetime games this year, the first in week four at Dallas against the Cowboys. They'll also face the Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers and a Monday Night Football Game versus the Baltimore Ravens.

The New Orleans Saints preseason schedule was announced Wednesday afternoon.

The Saints will begin the preseason in St. Louis versus the Rams, then travel home to face the Tennessee Titans. Those dates are still to be announced.

The preseason opener against the Rams will feature a familiar face at defensive coordinator on the St. Louis sideline: former Saints Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams. Williams was a central figure in the bounty scandal that sidelined key New Orleans players and coaches during the 2012 season.

The New Orleans Saints finished their season with a 12-6 record, including their first playoff win in the cold, on the road. WWNO’s Jason Saul sat down with Ramon Antonio Vargas, Saints beat writer for the New Orleans Advocate, for a recap of the season, and for a look at what’s next.

So Ramon, as someone who is on the Saints beat you spend a lot of time with the team, both at home and on the road. Now that the season is over, what’s your take on how it went?